TRANSDRUG: EUROPEAN CO-OPERATION TO DEVELOP ADDICTION TRAINING

The Transdrug project (Training needs analysis in health & social services - A response to expanding poly drug use) was carried out in 2001-2003 with the support of the European Community's vocational training action programme Leonardo da Vinci. Co-ordinated by the A-Clinic Foundation, Finland, the project spanned four European countries: Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and the Slovak Republic.

The Transdrug project was a response to challenges that arise from changes in the drugs field. The four partner countries have different substance use profiles, different treatment and rehabilitation systems and different training systems. Nevertheless, the partners are faced with similar problems: continuous change in patterns of substance use and in intervention methods, and a continuous need to update the knowledge and skills of professionals both in specialised addiction services and in general health and social services.

An understanding of existing and emerging needs is required for the development of adequate training. The primary objective of the Transdrug project was to develop training needs assessment methods that are easily applicable in various work settings and yield relevant information to develop training plans.

The projects work consisted of:

• Developing methods for identifying training needs among professionals who deal with substance use-related problems.
• Testing and fine-tuning the methods at local/regional level.
• Producing a Tool Kit consisting of case studies that illustrate the potential and limitations of the methods used.

The Transdrug project was carried out by a partnership involving addiction service providers, vocational training institutions, and bodies representing professionals who deal with substance use-related problems. There were 18 partners altogether. The broad-based partnership gave an opportunity to address training issues from a variety of complementary perspectives.

Transdrug products

The Transdrug project's main product, A Trainer's Tool Kit, published in 2003, is available as a book in English, Finnish, Italian and Slovak and as an electronic publication in English, Finnish and Dutch.

The project also produced:

• A collection of articles examining current issues in Finnish addiction training (available in Finnish and English). The publication is meant to foster the development of addiction training in Finland and to make the experiences gained in Finnish addiction training accessible to a wider European audience.
• A series of articles giving a general overview of addiction services and addiction training in partner countries. The articles are intended to help put into a context the findings presented in the Transdrug Tool Kit, and to serve as information source in student placement.
• A series of articles that describe the use of ICT in some partner organisations and/or ICT training implemented in the framework of the Transdrug project. These are hoped to foster the use of ICT in addiction services more generally.

Electronic versions of A Trainer's Tool Kit and the articles are available in the section resources of this web site. The section also offers links to potentially useful sources of information.

Updated 13.1.2004